Highgate charity campaigner honoured with ‘Woman of the Year’ award
Marjorie Wallace, founder & CEO of SANE, at home in Highgate in a Stella McCartney jacket. Photo: Nigel Sutton - Credit: Nigel Sutton
Journalist and mental health campaigner Marjorie Wallace has been recognised for her ‘courage, resourcefulness, flair’ at a glittering awards ceremony
Marjorie Wallace, founder and chief executive of mental health charity Sane was given the Prudential Woman of the Year award for “Outstanding Campaigner.”
She was one of six women chosen for their “courage, resourcefulness, flair and for their selfless actions” at the Women of the Year Awards held today.
The awards were presented by Prime Minister Theresa May, Katie Derham, Sara Khan, Baroness Helena Kennedy, Denise Gough and Lorraine Kelly.
Ms Wallace founded SANE in 1986, after writing about the lack of services and treatments for people suffering from schizophrenia in a series of articles called The Forgotten Illness.
She assembled a network of politicians, media commentators and international scientists which enabled SANE to become one of the leading mental health charities in the UK.
The charity raises money for people with mental health problems and it pioneered the UK’s first national out-of-hours mental health helpline, offering information and emotional support 365 days a year.
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Ms Wallace said: “As an investigative journalist I didn’t succeed in being a war reporter, as I had so wanted, but found my own front line closer to home. This award is a tribute to all those individuals and families I have met who have allowed their stories to be told and shown such courage and resilience in the face of adversity, whether through physical or mental illness.”
Women of the Year has celebrated inspiring women since 1955, when it was founded by the late Lady Tony (Antonella) Lothian OBE with Lady Georgina Coleridge and Odette Hallowes.
– For a full interview with Marjorie Wallace, pick up this week’s Ham&High.
